Joshua Darren Hare (born 12 August 1994) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

Career

Hare signed his first professional contract with Gillingham in November 2012. In February 2012, he joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Division One South side Whitstable Town on a work-experience loan, along with Jake Hessenthaler. In January 2013, he signed for

Division One side Maidstone United on a work experience loan. Following his loan at Maidstone, he signed for Isthmian League Premier side

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

on another work experience loan in February 2013, along with

Jake Hessenthaler Jakob Andrew Hessenthaler (born 20 April 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Ebbsfleet United. He initially came through the youth academy at Chelsea, before later turning professional with Gilling ...

. In October 2013, he signed for Hastings United on a one-month loan deal, following in the footsteps of his father who played for the club in the 1980's/90's. He signed a one-year contract with the "Gills" in May 2014, but found first-team football hard to come by and was sent on an initial one-month loan to Conference South side Eastbourne Borough. His loan was extended to 10 January but on 5 January the loan was cut short. On 8 July 2016, having left Gillingham, Hare signed for Eastbourne Borough.

Bristol Rovers

On 12 June 2019, Hare signed for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract at

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

. After making an impressive start to the season, Hare suffered an injury and had to be stretchered off in a league match against Gillingham on 17 September. He returned to first-team action on 7 March 2020 in a 3–1 defeat to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

and featured three days later in a 2–0 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, the last match before the league's abandonment. He scored his first goal for the club on 18 November 2020, scoring a 90th-minute winner in a 4–3 victory over Chelsea U21 in the final match of the group stage of the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

, with Hare's goal seeing ''the Gas'' qualify for the knockout stages. At the end of the 2020–21 season, a season that saw ''the Gas'' relegated bottom of the league, Hare was announced to be one of the players to not be having his contract renewed.

Eastleigh

On 29 June 2021, Hare returned to

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

on a permanent deal. On 14 September, he scored his first goal back at the club with the fourth in a 4–1 thrashing of

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the , the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1983 afte ...

having already set up his side's second goal.

Dagenham & Redbridge

On 19 February 2022, he signed for National League divisional rivals

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

for an undisclosed fee. Manager

Daryl McMahon Daryl McMahon (born 10 October 1983) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of club Hornchurch. McMahon represented the Republic of Ireland Under-16 team at the 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Football Champio ...

stated that Hare was "a player that I've admired for a long time". In May 2024, it was announced that Hare would depart the club upon the expiration of his contract.

Boreham Wood

On 6 June 2024, Hare joined recently relegated

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

side

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

Hornchurch

In May 2025, Hare joined National League South side

Personal life

Hare is the son of former Gillingham youth team manager Darren Hare, the nephew of former Gillingham player and manager

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the ...

, and the cousin of another former Gills player,

Career statistics

Honours

Boreham Wood *

play-off winners: 2024–25 Individual *National League Team of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hare, Josh 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Canterbury Footballers from Kent English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Gillingham F.C. players Whitstable Town F.C. players Eastbourne Borough F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players 21st-century English sportsmen